


Powdered Silver

by appalachian_fireflies



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Families of Choice, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Injury Recovery, M/M, Raising Harry Potter, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:48:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27380698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appalachian_fireflies/pseuds/appalachian_fireflies
Summary: Auror Black meets Remus John Lupin, civilian informant and homeless werewolf, on a cold November day in 1987. The more Remus refuses his help, the more Sirius finds he wants to give it.AU where Remus never went to Hogwarts and Lily and James survived. Lily, James, and Sirius live at the Potter Mansion (Sirius has his ownwing, why wouldn’t he?). They communally raise Harry. Sirius meets Remus when he brings him in for questioning on the whereabouts of Fenrir Greyback.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 18
Kudos: 114





	Powdered Silver

**Author's Note:**

> speed stress written, unedited as of posting. writer's current emotion as a US citizen is aaaahhhhhhh fuck. trans people are valid, black lives matter, close the camps, good luck everyone.

“Don’t forget the pumpkin juice!” James poked his head out from the kitchen as Sirius stepped into the fireplace. He had Harry on his shoulders, far too big to balance well and grasping his father’s disheveled hair like reins. 

“Some of us have real jobs,” Sirius wrangled the childproof lid of the floo powder. “Can’t work a couple months a year and do photoshoots the rest. Get it yourself.”

James reached up for Harry’s head and pulled it down to whisper in his ear. Harry poked his head up, pushed out his bottom lip in a pout, and widened his eyes. “Please Padfoot can I have the pumpkin juice?”

“Sure Haz,” Sirius held the powder in his fist. “Just give your blackmailing father hell for me today, okay? If you don’t make at least one thing explode, no pumpkin juice.”

James transformed into a stag, making Harry giggle and grab on to his antlers as he bounded away. Lily appeared, hair neatly pinned and searching the pockets of her healer’s robes. She looked up and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. “Please, take your time. Wouldn’t want to interrupt.”

Sirius let the powder fall from his fist to the brick floor. “Ministry of Magic!”

The Auror Department lay at the end of a labyrinthine set of corridors comprising Magical Law Enforcement. Its offices were deep in the earth, holding cells contained beneath 10 levels of Ministry spellwork. Sirius had just made it to his desk to hang up his traveling cloak and shake floo powder from his hair before the door of Mad Eye’s office banged open.

“Black,” Moody growled, eye swiveling before it fixed on him. “Another one for you in interrogation. Possible Intel on the Greyback case.”

“Really? How’d you manage that?” Sirius asked. 

Moody shrugged. “Took him in for questioning this morning. He volunteered the information himself. Better get in there while he’s still willing to paint a target on his back.”

“Aw, Mad-Eye, did you keep him here just for me?” Sirius grinned. 

Mad-Eye’s eyes rolled, one of them entirely to the back of his skull. “It’s your case, Black. Unless you don’t get your ass moving, then I’m reassigning it to Rogerson.”

“You wish you could replace me so easily,” Sirius turned away and strode through the wooden cubicles, down a narrow hallway dimly lit with oil lamps. Sirius always appreciated theatricality of the space, which did the work of terrifying most suspects before he even started questioning them.

Sirius pulled a file from the door of room three and opened the door, glancing at the file as he went. “Edward John Lupin?” he moved to sit at the small table and glanced up at the man across from him. 

His first impression of the man was that he was several years older than Sirius. He was thin, dressed in patched and fraying robes, and across his face from eyebrow to jaw were three scars white with age. 

“Haven’t heard that name in a while,” the man smiled at Sirius. His voice was slightly hoarse but pleasant, with the faint lilting of a Welsh accent.

Sirius mentally kicked himself. Rookie mistake. “What do you go by?”

“Remus,” the man answered, lacing his fingers together and leaning on his elbows.

“Suits,” Sirius replied. “Change it when you joined a pack?”

“A long time ago, yes.” Remus replied.

Sirius nodded. “Not in the same pack anymore?”

“No,” the man answered. Sirius glanced at the file in front of himself and was surprised to see the man had been born the same year as himself. In the light of the oil lamps, Sirius could see flecks of gray in his hair.

“Says here you were born in 1960. I don’t remember seeing you at Hogwarts.”

“My parents homeschooled me.” 

“Right,” Sirius could feel his brow furrowing as he glanced at the file. _Lyall and Hope Lupin, parents, deceased ’75._ A murder case, he noted. Edward John Lupin had disappeared soon after. 

Sirius couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about this man didn’t quite add up. The other werewolves he’d interrogated had gone silent, either defiant towards Magical Law Enforcement on principle or of facing retribution from one of Greyback’s followers. Something about this man was far too casual, an ease at odds with his surroundings.

“You know,” the corner of the man’s mouth twitched, “I don’t believe you’ve introduced yourself.”

Sirius smacked his palm on his forehead. “Sirius Black.” He held out a hand, and the man shook it. “Do you want anything? Tea? Sandwich?” He didn’t usually offer the latter, but the man’s thinness seemed downright unhealthy for his frame.

Remus shrugged. “I’ll take it, if you’re offering.”

“Be right back. Don’t go anywhere,” Sirius pointed at him, and Remus snorted.

Sirius caught Mad-Eye in the hall on the way to the commissary. “What aren’t you telling me about him?” Sirius said in passing.

“Your job to find out, isn’t it, Auror Black?” Moody waved him away, but Sirius swore he could see the corner of his mouth turning up. That was about as blunt a confirmation as Sirius was likely to ever get from Moody.

Sirius returned with an egg sandwich and tea, which to Sirius’ surprise Remus did not devour at once but tore into smaller pieces, as if making it last.

“Moody said you have information on Greyback. Have you seen him since he re-entered the country?”

Remus paused. “Not quite.”

“Ok,” Sirius looked at the man, who was offering no further information. “What have you got?”

“I know where he’ll be,” Remus said, taking a sip of his tea. 

“And how would you know this information?” Sirius raised his eyebrows.

“I used to be a member of his pack,” Remus replied.

Merlin. The man hadn’t had the look of one of Greyback’s followers, but he did have a detached calm that was difficult to read. “Used to be?”

“Yes.”

Sirius sighed. “You’re going to have to give me more than that. Why should I believe that you’re not leading me into a trap?”

“I’ve wanted Fenrir dead for a very long time,” Remus met Sirius’ eyes. “If you think you can get the job done then I’d be happy to help you.”

“Why?”

“He murdered my parents, to start,” Remus replied. 

“But you joined his pack?” Sirius leaned forward. “That had to be after your parent’s deaths.”

Remus sighed. “I was 15. He found me, afterward. No one wanted to take in a werewolf. He fed me, gave me a home, treated me like I was important. He said I could be accepted for the first time in my life. He’d targeted me from the beginning, but I had no way of knowing better.”

“He turned you when you were 15?” Sirius asked, horrified. 

“Oh no,” Remus looked surprised. “I was much younger than that. My father had angered him, so he bit me when I was a small child. He came back for me because my parents had educated me well, and he needed someone to help him manage the pack’s relationship with Voldemort.” 

Sirius felt his jaw drop slightly. Who was this man, who spoke Voldemort’s name so casually? “You were a Death Eater?”

“No,” Remus replied, expression shutting down. 

“You worked with the Death Eaters?” 

“Not exactly,” Remus said. 

Sirius felt the urge to bang his head against the table. “Care to elaborate?”

Remus spun his mug on the table. “You’ll have to ask Mad-Eye about that.”

Sirius felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising. This man couldn’t be saying what he thought he was saying- but it made sense, Moody’s comment and the man’s ease. There had been a spy among the werewolves, though he had only learned this through his work as an auror cleaning up after the war. 

“Where can we find him?”

“I’ll tell you when we get there.”

Sirius shook his head. “You’re not an auror. I’m afraid I can’t jeopardize the mission.”

“You’ll all be dead without me,” Remus shook his head. “I come with you, or no deal.”

Sirius sighed. “I’ll be right back.”

Sirius left the interrogation rooms and knocked on Moody’s door once before entering. “You set me up, didn’t you?”

Moody grunted. “Got everything you wanted. Ought be grateful.”

“You might’ve warned me.”

“Wasn’t my information to tell.”

“He says he comes with, or no deal,” Sirius leaned against the far wall.

“Take him.”

“Seriously?”

Moody scowled. “You’re not drawing me into one of your stupid name jokes, Black. You heard me. He’s decent in a fight. He knows the territory. If he’s offering, I’d say you’re damn lucky.” 

“He was the spy for the Order,” Sirius stated. “Wasn’t he?”

“Get out of my office and go do something useful,” Moody waved him out.

Sirius ended up ordering a tray of sandwiches and pouring cup after cup of tea for the team working with himself and Lupin. Though Lupin would not disclose the exact location, he described enough of the territory for them to come up with a plan of attack. He and Lupin remained to pore over strategy while the other Aurors trickled out. Eventually, Sirius stood with a snapping of vertebrae and began closing files to lock away in his desk.

“That’s it for me,” Sirius turned to Lupin. “I have to go pick up pumpkin juice for a six-year-old.”

“Oh,” Remus looked surprised. “You have a kid?”

Sirius laughed. “No, my mate and his wife do. But I’m responsible for the pumpkin juice today.” 

Remus smiled. “Sounds nice.”

“I never thought I’d say this, but it really is.” He put on his cloak. “Your file didn’t have an address – where can I find you? Unfortunately, I don’t think the Ministry will let you in without escort.”

“601 Knockturn Alley,” Remus’ lips twitched, “front stoop.” 

“Oh,” Sirius said stupidly, caught off guard. He shouldn’t have been surprised, what with Umbridge’s tightening noose of employment restrictions and the man’s shabby clothes. Still, he felt wrongfooted and unsure of what to say.

“I’ll meet you outside the Ministry, at the public entrance.”

“Right, that would be good,” Sirius mumbled like the useless lump he was. 

“If you just take me back to the floo I’ll make my way,” Remus prompted.

“Sure,” Sirius replied. He felt he should be able to offer something but knew better than to raise false hope about being allowed into a shelter. He assumed the man knew this far better than he did. 

At the floo, Remus turned with a wave and disappeared in a flash of green flame before Sirius could comment. 

When he returned to Potter Manor, pumpkin juice in hand, he found himself getting distracted from small tasks. James eventually pushed him away from the stove and took over, handing Harry off to Lily. “Encouraging my son towards small explosions is one thing, but if your goal is to burn down our wing of the house you should know that we will have to live in yours.”

Sirius snorted. “Oh no, you’ll have to take one of my three floors.” 

“Lily won’t let you bring in gentlemen callers without a ward between wings that’ll singe their hair off.” 

“Touché.”

“Out with it,” James pointed a spatula at Sirius. “You’re brooding like you’ve got a whole nest of eggs to hatch.”

Sirius pulled a chair over to the stove and draped his neck over the back, hair spilling out behind him. “There’s someone helping us with a case. Civilian. He’s really sticking his neck out for us.” Sirius rocked the chair back onto two legs while James stirred. “He seems like a really decent bloke, and he’s homeless.”

“Can you do something about that?” James asked.

“He’s a werewolf,” Sirius replied.

James went quiet for a minute. “If he weren’t, what would you want to do?”

It was an odd thing, Sirius reflected. When they were younger James had the reputation of being good for catching quaffles and having nice biceps at best, and at worse being a bully. But he’d also rescued Sirius from his pureblood idiocy, first mentally then physically when Sirius’ parents burnt him off the family tapestry. To his friends, James was surprisingly patient. 

“I’ve only known him for a day.”

“Right,” James took his glasses off and wiped the fog from the steaming pot onto his shirt. “Make sure you give Harry a cuddle before you disappear to wherever you plan to go brood.”

“Yes mom,” Sirius replied.

“Mate, if I was your mother, may she burn in hell, I’d probably be torturing a house elf not giving you excellent advice.”

“Nah,” Sirius shook his head and smiled. “If anyone was my mum, it was Effie.” 

“That’s right,” James stuck his finger in the sauce and tasted it. “Our mum was saintly and refined and gave much better advice than I ever will.” 

Sirius stole a bread roll, greeted Harry, and found that he slept surprisingly well. 

*

It was pissing rain outside the public entrance, a November chill that didn’t have the decency to turn to snow but soaked through several layers of waterproofing. At first he missed Remus, who was leaning against a wall with a muggle-proof Prophet that looked to be two days out of date. The man moved forward without acknowledging Sirius, and they made their way into the telephone box together. The close quarters were awkward, and Sirius found his usual verbal fluency was failing him. 

“You ready for today?” Sirius asked as they entered a gilded elevator, door sliding shut on an interdepartmental memo that struggled to break free.

Remus shrugged. “I don’t know that I’m ever ready. Might as well get it over with.”

Sirius flipped his hair up into a bun. “Can’t disagree.” He shifted. “What house do you think you would be in, if you went to Hogwarts?”

“I don’t know. Would’ve been happy with any of them.”

“Do you ever think about it?” Sirius looked at him.

“I used to,” Remus replied. “My dad used to describe it to me. But when I didn’t get my letter,” he looked at the elevator buttons, watching the floor lights change. “We didn’t talk about it anymore.” 

“You should’ve,” Sirius said. “I mean, you should’ve gotten your letter. You’re a wizard.” 

Remus sighed. “I understand why they didn’t. The risk to the other students-“

Sirius snorted. “I went to school with the Lestranges, Mulciber, Avery, the whole lot. You have a furry little problem one night of the month, so what?”

Remus choked on a sudden laugh and smiled at Sirius. “A furry little problem?”

“Level two,” the elevator announced, and the doors opened with a chime. 

“Not taking it back,” Sirius smiled. 

Sirius gathered a decent team for the raid, and when they were all geared up Remus led them to the location.

It was anticlimactic, in some ways. A dingy abandoned farmhouse in Yorkshire, the roof leaking as they overpowered the remnants of Greyback’s followers after his six year absence. Untrained and mostly wandless opponents against a team of aurors were no match. 

Greyback had made a break for the woods, but with dogged persistence Lupin chased him down. When Sirius realized Remus was tracking mostly by scent, he transformed into Padfoot. It was the only time thus far he’d seen Remus briefly startled. They continued for miles, team members falling behind as Remus and Sirius moved fluidly through thick undergrowth. 

A branch snapped to Sirius’ left, and too late he realized Greyback had sprung a trap, sending Padfoot sailing through the air and knocking the breath from his lungs. Greyback did not pause as he went to disarm Remus, grappling hand to hand as Remus attempted to use wandless magic against the larger man. Greyback’s nails had been sharpened to claw-like points, and as Sirius came back to awareness he processed the wet squelch of blood from torn flesh. 

“Traitor,” Greyback hissed as he raked his claws across Remus’ abdomen. “I transformed you. I made you my own. My right hand.” Greyback dug his claws in deep, and Sirius saw Remus’ face go white. Greyback leaned in, and Sirius strained to hear him as the world continued to spin. “Do you think they will reward you? Accept you? Without people like me, we would already be exterminated.”

Sirius felt adrenaline kick in as he saw Remus’ head loll, and he grabbed his wand for a non-verbal summoning charm. With a series of pops of apparition, aurors began to circle the clearing. 

Greyback looked up, snarling at the new arrivals. In that moment, Remus lifted a hand to Greyback’s neck. He had no wand, but Sirius could see him mouthing an incantation. Greyback turned in surprise, and with the movement his head continued to turn. He gave a scream of pain as the vertebrae cracked, continued cracking, until Greyback’s head hung at an unnatural angle, spine snapped. 

Sirius continued to watch, horrified and fascinated as the corpse fell to the ground. As terrible as it was to watch, it was still a cleaner death than many he’d seen in the war by far. He watched as Remus fell from Greyback’s claws and heard the whimper when his body hit the ground. 

Sirius staggered upright, unsure at what point he had shifted to become human again, though he must have, because he held his wand in his hand. There was blood on the leaves, and it was very cold. The rain had become a constant, inescapable drizzle. “Rogers,” Sirius barked, and the auror ran forward, medic kit out. 

Rogers paused as he saw Remus’ torn abdomen. 

“What?” Sirius snapped. 

“The blood,” Rogers hesitated. “There might be contamination-“ 

Sirius wrenched the kit from Rogers’ grasp and went to work. He’d had more field training than he’d ever wanted during the war, and he knew how to sanitize and cauterize and pour blood replenishing potion as each arterial pulse led someone closer to death. 

Sirius cursed fluidly as the wounds refused to knit themselves shut. Cursed wounds. He needed- what did he need, werewolf, he needed- 

A cold hand, shaking and damp with sweat encircled his wrist. “Silver,” Remus coughed, face tight with pain. 

“Ok, ok,” Sirius rummaged through the extended bag, adrenaline making his fingers shake. “Don’t worry- accio powdered silver!” The jar flew into his hand, and he sprinkled it liberally over Remus’ abdomen, holding the wounds together until they began to seal shut. 

“I think it’ll be fine,” Remus laid his head back on the ground. “Quick healing. Just- give me a minute.” 

“Ok,” Sirius sat, breathing, watching Remus breathe. After several long moments, he realized his team was watching him and waiting for orders.

“If you’re not going to do anything useful, go back to headquarters and report in,” Sirius snapped. “Take the body with you.”

One by one, the aurors left with pops of apparition. Sirius extended an umbrella charm to create a dome and sat for a few long minutes in silence. 

“He’s dead,” Remus said. His eyes were dazed, and his voice echoed throughout the dome. 

“Do you think you’re stable enough now to go to Mungos?” Sirius asked. 

Remus shook his head. “Can’t go to Mungos.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sirius scoffed. 

“Can’t,” Remus shook his head. “Ignatius Waterwort heads Janus Thickey Ward for bites. Appointee of Umbridge. If I go in, I’m not coming out.” 

“You can’t be serious,” Sirius shook his head. 

Remus smiled. “No, I’m not. You are.” 

“What?” Sirius blinked, tapping his wand on Remus’ shoulder to run a scan. Was he delusional? Losing oxygen? Internal bleed?

“You’re Sirius.” 

Sirius rocked back on his heels. “I can’t believe you.”

“Believe it,” Remus sobered. “If that man has the chance, he’ll find a way. No one would miss me.” 

“I would,” Sirius said with a vehemence that startled himself. 

Remus gave him a puzzled smile. “I can side-along. Just take me to Knockturn, there are some people there who should be able to help me.” 

Sirius worried at his lip. “Are you sure?”

“You just ran a scan, didn’t you? You know I’m stable. I’ll be fine.”

“I’d feel better if you went to Mungos. I could be your guard dog.”

Remus laughed, then winced from pain. Slowly and gingerly, he stood. “They’d kick you out.” He met Sirius’ gaze. “Look, you haven’t known me for very long but I’ll be fine. I’ve been patching myself up for years and I’ve had much worse than this.”

“What counts as much worse than this?” Sirius said, incredulous.

Remus winced. “Sirius, as much as I like talking to you I would really rather be somewhere I can rest.”

“Alright,” Sirius conceded. He held out his arm, and Remus wrapped his fingers around Sirius’s wrist.

They emerged in Knockturn, and Remus turned to leave. 

“Wait,” Sirius called. Remus turned and Sirius stood there, not sure what to say. “There has to be something I can do.”

Remus, hand still pressed to his side, gave Sirius a kind smile. “You’ve already done it. I couldn’t have finished it by myself. I don’t think you realize what an end to a long nightmare this is for me.”

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. When had the elastic fallen out? “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Sure,” Remus gave him that puzzled smile again. “Good luck, Auror Black.” 

“You too, Remus,” Sirius gave him a half smile, and turned away. He walked for a long time in the cold, and he was soaked and shivering by the time he checked in at the Ministry. Moody took one look at him and sent him home, but Sirius found himself apparating to Shaftesbury and transforming into Padfoot’s simpler mind to stride through miles of rolling hills to the mansion. The moon shone brightly overhead, lighting his way and giving the hills an otherworldly cast. 

He tipped his head up and studied the face of the moon for a moment. What was it like for Remus to watch the moon wax and wane, inevitable, inescapable? At the moment it was perfectly round. He wondered if Remus could remember what moon looked like. 

All at once he stopped, paws sinking into the soft mud. He felt a sickening lurch in his stomach. The moon was full tonight. Remus would transform, stomach full of half-healed wounds. 

He knew there was no use now in finding Remus-wherever he hid for his transformations, Sirius had no hope of finding it. When he reached the Manor, he passed through the wards and slipped into a doggy door in the West Wing. He crawled into the dog bed James had originally gotten as a joke, not wanting to feel the brunt of human worry. Remus had had the whole day to continue healing, and werewolves healed rapidly. They survived their bones breaking and flesh tearing every month. Remus himself had assured Sirius he would be fine and had gone through worse. He was likely worrying over nothing.

Padfoot let the worries go with enviable ease and fell into a deep sleep. He dreamed of running through the forest with Remus, sometimes human, sometimes wolf, the scent of blood in his nostrils.

The next morning, Sirius went to 601 Knockturn. He wandered the entire alley several times over. He returned in the evening, searching every shadowed corner. Remus was not there.

**Author's Note:**

> could've drawn out the greyback thing, but the point of this fic is the h/c in the next chapter so eh  
> be prepared for a lot of self indulgent cuddling


End file.
